


holy palmers' kiss

by victoria_p (musesfool)



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Trapped In A Closet, Yuletide Treat, fraught hand-holding, listening to other people having sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28206609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/pseuds/victoria_p
Summary: Inej has always passed every test, solved every puzzle, exceeded every expectation Kaz has ever had for her. So it's time for him to test himself.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 10
Kudos: 130
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	holy palmers' kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aworldinside](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aworldinside/gifts).



> Title from _Romeo and Juliet_. Many thanks to S for reading it over and providing such good advice.

Kaz will never say—he's not quite sure himself, to be honest—if he's testing himself when he asks Inej to accompany him on a job, "for old time's sake."

Inej looks skeptical—she knows he's never done anything for old time's sake except get revenge—but agrees without argument. He has to tamp down his flare of excitement at the idea of working with her again, of having her close enough to touch, even if he'll never let himself close the distance. Inej has always passed every test, solved every puzzle, exceeded every expectation Kaz has ever had for her. So it's time for him to test himself.

That night, she leads him silently over the rooftops of Ketterdam in the drizzling spring rain and it feels like no time has passed at all since the last time they did it. His leg hurts a little more than usual—he hasn't had occasion to come this way much since she's been gone—but he grits his teeth and bears it, focusing on the lithe shape in front of him, the liquid shift of her hips and the graceful turn of her ankle as she steps lightly from slate to slate. He tells himself he's simply admiring a professional at work, but he can hear Nina's sarcastic, _Yeah, that's what you're admiring,_ and stops trying to lie to himself.

The job is nothing—another rich mercher's mansion with another supposedly uncrackable safe—chosen for ease and familiarity, rather than need. Which is another change in his usual behavior, and he's certain she's noticed, though he can no longer say for sure if she'll say something when they're done. It's odd and exhilarating and just a little bit scary to not know exactly how she'll react, and he pushes that down too, locks it away with all the other disturbing things she makes him feel, to be taken out and examined roughly never. (Another lie—he'll play these moments over and over again on that fuzzy edge between sleeping and waking, when he can pretend in the morning they're only dreams, out of his control.)

Inej perches on the windowsill while he works, the moonlight limning her in silver like an icon of one of her Suli saints.

He's on the third number of the combination (out of five) when Inej straightens, suddenly on alert, and Kaz hears footsteps and whispers in the hallway outside the office.

She tilts her head at the other door in the room, and after Kaz swings the painting back to the wall with a quiet click (he and Inej may have changed but the merchers remain sadly predictable), they shove into the closet.

The office door swings open and there's a high-pitched giggle and a swish of skirts, and then a whispered, "Shh, or my husband will hear." 

The next giggle is cut off by wet smacking sounds, and Kaz tries to raise his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, but Inej is in the way. 

Inej is pressed up against him from the top of her head to her slipper-shod feet.

His brain gets stuck on this fact for a couple of long moments. His back is against the side wall of the closet, and Inej is pressed against him without an inch of space between them. They slot neatly together, angles and curves fitting perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Layers of wool and linen separate them, so the odd breathlessness Kaz is feeling isn't his usual sickness. It's the scent of rain in Inej's hair, the near-silent intake of her breath, and the memory of powdered sugar on her lips, that's making his chest tight and his blood hot. He'd thought he was over this, that time and distance had worked their magic and he would no longer be susceptible to the hot tug of attraction between them. He should have known better.

He's distracted by a woman's voice saying, "Up on the desk, m'lady."

More rustling of skirts and then, "Oh, Trudy, you're so naughty."

Inej's shoulders shake and Kaz wonders if she's the one having a problem, if the sounds coming through the door are making her remember being at the Menagerie and she's lost among her own demons, but she turns her head towards him just enough to see the flash of her teeth as her lips curl in an amused grin.

Kaz finds himself smiling back and it feels good, for once, to smile without threat. It's been a while since he's done it. 

Through the crack where the door isn't completely flush with the jamb, he can see the lady of the house sitting on the desk writhing while a maid who must be Trudy kneels under her skirts.

He can't stop his brain from conjuring images of Inej, on the windowsill, his face between her thighs.

His breath catches, not in disgust but in _longing_ , and Inej shifts as if she's trying to put space between them, but her ass just ends up rubbing against his groin. He bites back a moan of his own as a spike of pleasure jolts through him, teeth sinking hard into his lower lip, and a lingering ache low in his belly. Now he's wondering what it would be like to sink his teeth into Inej's lip, to put his tongue in her mouth and feel her tongue slide against his.

"Kaz?" Her voice is a mere puff of hot breath against his neck and he shivers, in a good way for once.

"I'm all right. Just...try not to move too much." His smile is tight this time, but still genuine. "Don't want to knock over that suit of armor."

"I think we should steal it," she says, mischief in her eyes. "It would look good in your room at the Slat."

"I bet you can't get it in there without anyone noticing."

She tilts her head and _beams_ at him, making his chest ache in addition to his groin. "I bet I can."

And that's somehow even more arousing. He's reminded yet again of why Inej is the one who's managed to slip past his defenses, just like the Wraith he named her, and why he hasn't fought nearly as hard as he could to keep her out. 

He reaches around her so he can remove the glove on his right hand, ignoring the nearness of her lips to his lips, so close he wouldn't even need to move to kiss her. So close that when he leans the merest quarter inch forward, his eyelashes graze her cheek when he blinks. They both shudder, vibrating together on the same wavelength, breathing in sync now, just the slightest bit ragged, but still quiet.

He pulls the glove from his hand and takes hers—this, at least, he can do—and squeezes it. "The deal is the deal."

She squeezes back, something like hope lighting her face. "The deal is the deal." 

Her grip loosens, like she's expecting him to let go, but he doesn't. He twines their hands together, reminding himself how it feels in his, the roughness of her calluses and the softness between her fingers. The way her hand fits his better than his glove. He tests the idea of this hand touching him all over and finds it good, as long as he doesn't dwell on it too long. He breathes in the scent of her nape beneath the heavy braid of her hair, and hopes that one day he'll be able to give her more. That she'll wait for him until that day. Hope is still a foreign feeling to him, but he resolves to hold onto it the way he's holding her hand. 

Her ladyship huffs and moans on the desk for a few more minutes, but Kaz is no longer impatient or frustrated. Inej is relaxed against him, fitting in the negative space of his body like she was made for it, and he thinks he could stay like this forever. 

There are more kissing sounds, and then the lady and her maid scurry out of the office, closing the door behind them with a click that sounds loud in the silence.

They wait a few more minutes just to be sure, but the spell is broken, and his bad leg is starting to protest at being stuck in one position for so long.

They finish the job, even though there was nothing urgent about it and the only reason he planned it was to work with Inej again, and to remind the merchers they're not safe as long as he's king of the Barrel. They make their way back to the Slat in silence, at ground level, still holding hands while there's no one around to see them.

Before they enter the Slat, Kaz puts his glove back on, but he can still feel the imprint of Inej's warm, callused hand against his palm, and it causes no discomfort.

His drowsy fantasies that night are full of her, and he gives into the urges of his body. He takes himself in hand and brings himself to satiation with the thought of it being her hand, her hair, her mouth moving over him. For once, he comes before disgust can overtake him, and after he cleans up, he falls asleep easily and deeply.

In the morning, he wakes to the sight of Inej on his windowsill, outlined in the rose-gold glow of dawn this time, a wide grin on her face and the suit of armor standing in the corner of his room.


End file.
